Sixers' Jason Richardson experiences setback, still wants to play this season

(AP)

76ers guard Jason Richardson incurred
a setback in his bid to return to the court this season.

Richardson said his surgically
repaired left knee has taken on fluid, though he’s unsure what he did to trigger
the swelling. The 13th-year man, who said he’s not experiencing any
pain in the afflicted joint, still has his eyes pointed toward playing this
season.

“Yeah, I had some setbacks. I
don’t know,” Richardson said Saturday, before the Sixers hosted the Utah Jazz. “Like
I told (Sixers coach Brett Brown) when we talked a month ago, if it’s 10 or 15
or two games, I want to come back. That’s my goal. That’s my motivation. If it
doesn’t happen, (my goal is) get ready for next year.”

At the start of the season,
Richardson had been limited to workouts in a pool. Last month, he was cleared
to take light jumpshots for the first time in nearly a year. The 33-year-old
Richardson had been working toward attaining clearance to resume running.

“It’s just part of the rehab,”
Richardson said. “I’m trying to get back as quickly as I can, at least a couple
games for my own confidence. Then I can go into the offseason thinking about
what I have to do for next season.”

Earlier this week, Brown said
he didn’t expect Richardson to play, pointing to a “gut feel.” As the player
with the most league experience, Richardson has been told by Brown that “he has
an open mic” to speak up in the locker room.

“It does mean a lot to me, because
I pride myself on being a positive guy and a good teammate to a whole bunch of
young guys,” Richardson said. “I love to hear that, especially from Brett. He’s
a great coach and I respect him a lot. That makes me feel confident about being
here and around this group of guys as much as I can.”

Richardson was acquired by the
Sixers in August 2012 as part of the four-team deal that also brought Andrew
Bynum to town. He averaged 10.5 points on a career-worst .402 field-goal
percentage in 33 games last season before suffering a left knee injury that
required surgery to correct.